Envoy tells German firms to restore Taiwan’s name

Representative to Germany Shieh Jhy-wey (謝志偉) on Wednesday said he has written to several major German companies demanding that they stop listing Taiwan as part of China on their Web sites.

Shieh was referring in particular to Lufthansa and Mercedes-Benz, which have listed Taiwan on their English-language Web sites as “Taiwan, China,” as well as Bosch, which uses “Taiwan (China)” on its Web site.

“These companies have apparently come under heavy pressure from Beijing, as China has been flexing its muscle toward Taiwan around the globe,” he said. “However, this is something that we cannot accept and we have demanded a correction from these companies.”

The issue came on the heels of Marriott International’s apology to Beijing in January for naming Taiwan as a stand-alone country on an e-mail questionnaire it sent to members of its reward program.

China has been stepping up its offensive against Taiwan by adopting a two-pronged strategy.

While it is seeking to block the nation’s presence in the international community, Beijing is offering incentives to Taiwanese citizens in hopes of enticing more Taiwanese to engage with China.

Late last month, Beijing announced 31 measures that would allow Taiwanese to compete on an equal footing with Chinese in China, covering an “unprecedented” number of actors, from students to the film industry.

Academics have expressed concern that this would accelerate an exodus of talent from Taiwan, placing the nation at a disadvantage in the global competition for highly educated workers.